The Scarlet Letter
by Kazumi Kuwabara
Summary: A young teen gets involved with the Hellsing Organization when her town and home are attacked by ghouls. And after writing a letter to said Organization, the Hellsing party is getting involved with her as well.
1. Words on a Page

Kazumi: I'm writing another _Hellsing_ story considering that so many people liked my first one so far. The first chapter is a little bland but it gets better I promise. I hope you like it as much as my other fic.

_Text_- Word emphasis, address

* * *

Words on a Page

_Brooks Residence  
1616 Mountain Stream Ct.  
Burford, England 31362  
March 8, 2005_

_Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing Order of the Royal Knights, Hellsing Organization  
2875 Hellsing Manor Dr.  
London, England 10934_

Dear Sir Hellsing;

I am writing this letter as a thank you for ridding/saving my town and my home of the ghouls last week. I looked up what they are. Although my home is quite a long way away from the town, we were helped; even thought we received no _official_ assistance, we did fine. But since only one person came to our rescue, I'm going to assume that it wasn't included in your report, so I'll tell you what happened.

On March 1, 2005, we, my family and I, received a report to stay in our homes. Although we did not know the reason for the announcement we locked up and armed ourselves, as you probably already know. About thirty or forty minutes later we heard strange sounds from outside. When we looked we saw some of the townspeople walking toward us rather oddly. When one of them shot at us, we had to fight back. We were doing pretty badly when a loud shot rang out, killing most of the ghouls. The process repeated until they were all _dead_ and a lone figure stood among the masses.

He wore a red trench coat, or something along those lines, with a big red hat, and yellow glasses. After a few minutes he came to check on us and dressed our wounds that were made by the weapons that the ghouls had used, thank God. As he left I asked who he was, maybe it was for my own curiosity I don't know. He said his name was Alucard from the Hellsing Organization. I didn't get the chance to finish thanking him since I was still in a state of mild shock as he walked away from our home, so when the whole ordeal was over I did all I could to find where he came from so I could let him know how grateful I am. And_, _so_…_here we are now.

As I said before, because no one but him came to our rescue, I'm assuming you didn't know about it. But I thank you anyway; and if Mr. Alucard is there, tell him that my family and I thoroughly appreciate his help that night, and that I owe him one. Thanks again!

Sincerely yours,

Cody Brooks

* * *

Kazumi: Again, I know it's a short chapter, but it's introducing the main character, so there! R&R


	2. Reciving News, A Night on the Town

Kazumi; WH00T! I'm on a roll! The second chapter of _The Scarlet Letter_ is up and ready to go. One of my reviewers, Nighteyes De Dracul, asked "Is this going to be another AxOC story?" I don't know yet, let me get more into the story, AND THEN I'll tell you. In the meantime, please enjoy the second chapter of _The Scarlet Letter_. I do not own Alucard and any of the Hellsing characters…not yet anyways, MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!

_'Text'_- Thoughts

_Text_- Word emphasis

* * *

Received News, A Night on the Town

Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing had just finished going through her mail that she had just received, and had come across a very strange letter concerning last weeks attack on a town in the Southern England countryside. Apparently a young girl whose town had been ravaged by the ghouls and had been saved, more or less, by that annoying servant of hers, Alucard. Just meant more paperwork for her… "Alucard, I know you're there. You did not tell me about this."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, the servant of darkness fazed out of the nearby wall, sneering that oh so obnoxious sneer. "Yes my Master…"

Integra chewed on the end of her cigar, "So why, pray tell, did you not inform me of this development? Now a young girl knows how to reach me, that information should not be available to the public." She slammed her hands down on the desk in anger.

Alucard snickered as he walked over to inspect the letter. "The girl has quite the manners." He looked up, "Mr. Alucard?"

Even the Hellsing Mistress had to _slightly_ grin at the amusing title that the girl had given him. "Yes indeed…"

"It also says that she 'owes me one'. Could we be able to use that to our advantage?" queried the Nosferatu.

She took a long drag from the cigar, "We might, but still, we shouldn't be going up to people's doors saying things like 'Hello there, your daughter wrote to me saying that she owes my associate here for saving her town last week'. No. That would be just plain rude…" Integra got up to dispose of the letter when a small sheet of paper floated out of the envelope. "Hm? What's this?" She picket it up to see a note neatly scrawled on it saying-_ '__P.S. - If you don't want me to tell anyone about your organization, I won't. Another thanks, Cody Brooks'_

"Well it seems that she's thought of everything, hasn't she Master?" Alucard said as he leaned over to observe the paper.

Integra smirked, "It seems she has…Now if you'll excuse me _Mr_. Alucard, " He winced at the sound of the nickname, "I need to fix this problem."

Alucard bowed mockingly, "As you wish my Master," Then he disappeared into the floor.

Integra turned back to the paperwork, no longer distracted from the past incident. But it wasn't meant to be, for a knock at the door pulled her attention away from her God damn papers. "What now?"

"Sir Integra," came a voice. It was Walter Dollneaz the family retainer also known as the Angel of Death, said politely as he held out a white envelope in his gloved hand. "You have a letter from her Majesty."

"Thank you Walter," The platinum blonde took the letter out of Walter's hand and scanned the page, "Oh no." she put a hand to her forehead, "not again. Walter, if you could please bring the car around the front." Integra got up from her desk and pressed the intercom. "Alucard, please go wake Miss Victoria if she is not already up. We have to go to_ another _ one…"

--

"Come on Cody! We're leaving _now_!" Her mother called from the car. Today was the day that her family was going to the Buckingham Palace, something knew the right people, and had just been invited to a big, important party there.

"I'll be right down Mom; just checking thing over before I go!" Cody replied.

"Well hurry up! We're going to be late…"

Cody giggled slightly, "Not with the way you drive." She looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a dark blue sparkle covered gown with short sleeves. Her light brown hair that she was cut at her shoulders was neatly combed, not like usual when she wore it by itself, messy and half brushed, or with a baseball cap. Her mother would like to say that she looked _ladylike_._ '__I guess its okay, just as long as I'm not actually meeting the queen…'_

"CODY! I'M ONLY GOING TO CALL YOU ONE MORE TIME!"

"I'M COMING ALREADY!" Cody yelled back as she ran down the stairs to the car.

--

"Okay everyone, we're here!" announced her father as the family loaded out of the car; his wife, son, and two daughters stood in awe of the palace grounds and the amount of people who came to the special gathering.

"It'sh sho big daddy!" said five year old Page, staring open-mouthed at the sight.

Cody leaned over, "That's because the queen lives there Page," she whispered in her ear.

Page turned around, eyes as bug as saucers, "Weally?"

"That's right, c'mon now. We gotta go inside with mommy, daddy and Ian." Cody grinned. _ '__Ahh...to be young and naive again. Makes me all warm and fuzzy__…'_ but she was interrupted buy her sibling yanking on her arm.

"Codi, I'll wace you!" called Page before she ran up the steps with her big sister jogging behind her.

--

"Really Walter, after I reminded The Twelve last time we met that I wasn't very keen about going to public gatherings, even if I was in the Queen's presence, you would think that they would stop inviting me to these blasted things," cursed Integra as more guests came into the ballroom.

Walter smiled, "Well it seems that Seres is having a good time." And she was, casually talking to guests. None of them seemed to notice she was a vampire, or if they did, they didn't really care.

Integra's eyes drifted around the room for her servant, finally finding him leaning against a nearby wall, "Alucard is just as lazy as ever, being as this is the first time he has gotten out in a week."

"Ah yes, you told me about the incident. How is it working out?" inquired Walter.

"The young girl had given us her word that she would not speak of it." Integra replied.

"Sir Hellsing," called a voice. A member of The Twelve soon walked up, "How are you this evening?"

"I've been better," She sighed

"As I have seen, I noticed that you invited your 'employees' along?"

"Yes, it has been a while since they have been out."

"Al right then, I'll be off. Nice seeing you again Mr. Dollneaz." He replied before walking off. At the last comment she chortled slightly remembering the nickname that the girl had given to Alucard.

"Sir?" asked Walter.

"Nothing Walter, it's just…when I read Ms. Brooks letter, she had called that damn pain in the neck, get this, MR. Alucard." She laughed softly.

Walter grinned, "Now that is funny, hearing Alucard have a title like that."

--

Cody looked around the ballroom in amazement. It was if the inside was even bigger that the outside, if that was possible.

"Cody?"

She looked down to see her sister clinging to her dress, "What is it Page?"

Page sniffled, "I can't find mommy or daddy or Ian…"

_'__Oh jeez not again.__'_ "Don't worry," she said as she held Page's hand. "We'll find them."

As she scanned the room she saw many things; a banquet table, the bar, the dance floor. But what intrigued her most was at the farthest corner of the room stood a tall man watching the scene before him. He was wearing almost entirely black except for his undershirt which was red and a black fedora. The oddest thing about him was his eyes…they were blood red, and seemed so familiar…

"Cody, Page; there you are!"

"GAH! What'd I do?!" she cried as Page ran over to a tall young man in his twenties.

"Big brother! Codi and I was looking for you and mommy and daddy!"

Ian, her obnoxious yet protective older brother, laughed as he hugged the small child before turning to his younger sister, "Hey Cody! Do I have to come over there to get you?"

"Um…er…no, just daydreaming," she said walking over. "So, what's up Ian?"

"Mom and dad want us over there," he pointed to where their parents were, "They want us to meet somebody."

"Mommy! Daddy!" cried Page as she ran over with her siblings behind her.

Cody snorted, "That's probably all we'll be doing this evening, and having no fun whatsoever."

"So deal with it, I am."

As the three reached their parents, said parents turned to greet them.

"Hey kids!" their father called as he turned from his posse, "I was just looking for you."

Ian strode up, "No worries, I found them."

"My knight in shining armor…" his sister quickly responded, sarcasam dripping off every syllable.

"Speaking of knights," said their father, "This is David Howell," he pulled a man from the group, "He's a friend of mine who works with the Order of the Royal Knights."

It was as if a lightning bolt went through her minds eye, someone who works for the Order of the Royal Knights – _The Hellsing Organization_! But, but that meant that he knew–!

"Ah, here comes a friend now! Michael I would like to introduce you my esteemed associate, Sir Integra Hellsing." Said Howell as a woman wearing an olive green satin dress walked over. "Sir Hellsing, this is Mr. Brooks and his family…"

* * *

Kazumi; DUN, DUN, DUUUUN! Looks like Cody is in trouble! I didn't describe the dress Integra was wearing very well cause I suck at it. R&R!


	3. Dilemma of the Ball

Kazumi: WAI! WAI, means 'YAY!' in Japanese, third chappie! WH00T! In the last chapter, Cody and her family had been invited to a ball at the queen's palace! The ONLY thing was that the head of the Hellsing Organization and her employees had been invited as well! Let's see what happens in the third chapter of, 'The Scarlet Letter'. ENJOY! –WARNING! SLIGHT FLUFF IN THIS CHAPPIE!

_'Text'_- Thoughts

**_'Text'_**- Alucard's thoughts

_Text_- Word emphasis

* * *

Dilemma of the Ball

_'__Oh CRAP! I'm in SOOOOO much trouble!__'_ Cody mentally cried. THE Head of Hellsing was standing right in front of her, and it was as if she was sweating bullets. Two words; Not. Good.

"It's very nice to meet you Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing," her father said casually.

"Likewise Mr. Brooks," Integra replied with a friendly handshake. "Might I ask who you have brought with you?"

Her father smiled, "Of course; this is my wife Abigail," he gestured to his wife who gave a nice "How do you do". "My eldest and only son Ian of twenty-four," her brother gave a slight and proper bow while Cody mentally gagged. "My youngest daughter Page of five," he said while picking her up. Page giggled and shook Integra's hand as well. "And my eldest daughter Cody of fifteen."

There was a tense moment between the two women. On one hand Integra was asking herself _'__Is this the young girl who wrote to me? I wonder__…__'_ And on the other hand Cody was thinking to herself _'__Oh crap, what do I do now?!__' _After a few seconds, Cody gave a small curtsy to the older woman.

"It's very nice to meet you Sir Hellsing," she said curtly.

Integra smiled. _'__If this is the girl, Alucard was right, she has quite the manners.__' _"Likewise Miss Brooks."

She gave a small sigh of relief, it seemed that she wasn't in trouble for the time being, "Hey Dad, can I go over to the snack bar?" Her father gave a nod and went back to his posse while Integra headed back over to Walter.

Walter turned to acknowledge Integra's presence, "So how did it go?"

"Well it seems that our little mailer has turned up here, as well with her family," she chuckled as she took a small sip of wine.

His head rose in amusement, "Really now? That's interesting…"

"Yes, yes it is. I would like to talk to her later if there is an opportunity," Integra said. Suddenly a presence in her mind came forth.

**_'_**_**Master, I heard about the girl. She's here is she not?**_**_'_** , came Alucard's voice in an amused tone.

She sighed, _'__Yes Alucard, she is. And I am giving you strict orders–__'_

**_'_**_**Not to worry my Master, I won't bother her**_**_…__'_** Integra relaxed a bit, **_'__…_**_**not TOO much anyway.**_**_'_** Alucard chuckled devilishly before leaving her mind.

_'__Alucard –__ blast!__'_She mentally cursed trying to keep her anger under control. Unfortunately Walter noticed.

"Something the matter Sir Integra?" he asked.

She rubbed her forehead tensely, "Yes, Alucard found out."

"Oh dear, that's not good I suppose." The butler winced, for he knew how persistent the Nosferatu could be at times.

"He's going to get it when this is over, I guarantee it." Integra growled as she finished off the rest of her wine.

---------

"Deviled eggs, buffalo wings, celery sticks, I can't choose! They're all sooo good!" Cody cried as she surveyed some of the delicacies that were being served. After a while she gave up and took a little of each, and went back to the question at hand. _'__Now, if I'm right, which most of the time I am, and if Sir Hellsing is here, then that means that__…__'_ Her memory drifted back to a few moments ago when she spied the strange gentleman in the corner while looking for her parents. _'__No fricking way! Was that Alucard? But that, that didn't look anything like him –__ ARGH! So confuuused!__'_She sighed as she made her way out onto the balcony. But as soon as she got out there, she regretted it. The one that she thought was Alucard was out there as well. _'__Damn__…__' _she thought as she made her way over to a chair.

"Nice night isn't it?"

"Huh?" she turned to face him. He was staring up at the moon, almost mesmerized. "Yeah I guess, I don't really look at the sky very often…" _'__This feels awkward__…__um__…__'_

**_'_**_**Not in the talking mood?**_**_'_**

She sighed; "You could say that …" _'__Wait…HOLD THE BLOODY PHONE!__!'_"What?! Hey – how did you–?!" she shouted as he chuckled darkly. She frowned nervously, this guy was really creeping her out. How did he know what she was thinking? It was almost…inhuman … But then again she had heard of certain people who could do that. "I apologize for my forwardness, but you look oddly familiar …"

He snickered, "You could say that."

Cody's eyes widened, so she WAS right. "You ARE Alucard aren't you? You saved my family and I." She got up and bowed in absolute respect, "I am in your debt, thank you so much for what you have done."

Alucard grinned insanely, revealing a fanged grin; thankfully she didn't see it or she would've freaked out. He walked over and lowered his head, whispering softly in her ear, "I accept your thanks, but you shouldn't lower your neck to one of the undead."

That did it. She made a high squeaky noise and stumbled back, "W-what do you mean?" He grinned again just for good measure, showing her a crazy smile full of sharp, pointy teeth. She 'eep'ed and started backing up slowly, "Y-you're a-a v-vampire…"

Alucard chuckled, "Such a smart child. Yes, I am what you would call a vampire. A tool of Hellsing for eradicating the FREAK filth that plagues this country."

"Wait, you mean you kill your own kind?" she curiously asked.

"It is my duty as a member and weapon of the Organization to do so, young one."

"So…how did you read my mind? I don't remember giving you permission to do that," Cody said sternly.

Alucard looked at her strangely before breaking out in a deep, scary, unruly laughter. _'__Its official–__'_she thought as she inched away from him. _'–__he's lost it.__'_

**_'_**_**I had already 'lost it' when I gave my humanity away; and that, my dear child, was centuries ago.**_**_'_**

She yelped and jumped about a foot in the air, "Don't do that God dammit! Jeez, you'll give me a fricking heart attack!" He chuckled again, "Might I ask what's so fricking funny, hm?" This was really starting to piss her off, and he knew it!

"You remind me of my Master when you talk like that," he grinned insanely.

Cody growled, "I'm gonna knock those fangs outta your mouth if you don't cut this shit ou-–"

"Master?" came a voice from the doorway. Cody looked over to find a girl about her brother's age standing there. She had strawberry blonde hair, a red silk dress, blue eyes, and shrap pointy teeth like Aluca–wait, WHAT?!

"Uh…are you with him?" Cody asked timidly as she pointed at the vampire. The girl looked over, almost surprised, and glared back at Alucard.

"Master, don't tell me you're terrorizing this poor girl!" she cried as she walked over to Cody. "I'm sorry about him; he can be like this sometimes."

"It's okay. Actually I'm glad you came when you did or I would've tried to wipe that smirk off his face; note the word 'tried'. But you haven't answered my question…" The girl stopped and tried to remember what it was that Cody asked her when Alucard intervened.

"She asked if you were with me Police Girl." He said with a leer.

"Oh, well yes…" the so called Police Girl said.

Cody had to stifle a laugh, "Your names 'Police Girl'?"

She sighed, "No, but Master won't call me by my actual name, and if he does it's not very often. It's Seras Victoria, very nice to meet you Miss…"

"Cody Brooks, pleasure Seras." She said as she shook the young fledgling's hand, "So you're a vampire too?"

"Yes,"

"Made into one by that guy no doubt, since you call him Master," Cody murmured as she jerked her thumb over in said Nosferatus direction. He smirked yet again, giving her a case of the shivers.

Seras laughed shyly and poked her fingers together, "Uh…yup."

"Nothing to be ashamed of , it's just a question. It's not like I have something against vampires." Cody smiled. It seemed to cheer her up tremendously and a peaceful moment passed between them until–

"CODY!" cried a voice before something small latched onto both her legs. She almost fell over if Seras hadn't caught her.

"Gah, Page! What was that for?" she asked as she kneeled down.

Her sister grinned happily, "I couldn't find you and now I did!"

Cody grinned at her sister's antics, "Page I would like you to meet some friends of mine," she said as she turned toward the two vampires. "This is Seras Victoria. Seras, Page my little sister." They said their how do's, "Pagie?"

"Yeah Cody?" her sister asked walking toward her.

"You remember last week when the bad thing happened?" Page paled just a tiny bit.

She sniffed, "Uh-huh, it wash scawwy…" Cody frowned just a bit. She remembered that her sister had been in the house when it happened and had watched the whole thing.

"You remember the nice man who saved us?"

Her sister went from gloomy to joyful in a split second, "You mean the tall man with the funny glasses, the biiiiig red coat and the biiiiig red hat?" Page stretched her arms as she could to emphasize her point while Cody and Seras giggled and Alucard got raised an eyebrow at her description of him. It almost made the teens burst into laughter.

"Yes Pagie, well guess what? That's him right over there." The small girl looked over at Alucard, as if she was in thought. A second later he had the little girl wrapped around his legs in a tight hug, which made Seras and Cody break into a boisterous giggle fit.

"Oh, goodness Master you look so funny!" cried Seras in between laughs. He sighed, relived when Page stopped and skipped back over to her sister. Cody kept her amusement in check while she told her sister to head on back to her family. She left giving a "Thank you Mr. Alucard!" and ran back inside.

"So that's who gave me that ridiculous nickname," he snorted.

"Yeah, well, she practically begged me to put that in my letter," explained Cody as Seras sniggered. "But true to my word, I do owe you one Alucard; I won't forget what you did for us."

"Cody! Mom says it's time to go," came her brother's voice from the doorway. Cody's shoulders slumped over. She had hoped to spend more time there with the two midians, but it seemed that it wasn't meant to be.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute!" She turned back to the vampires, "Sorry guys, I gotta go…"

Seras got the same sad look Cody did, "Well, do come back sometime…"

She managed a small half-smile before heading to the door, "Later."

A little after Cody left Integra and Walter joined the two vampires out on the porch.

"Well?" asked Integra, not missing a beat to give Alucard the evil eye. He grinned and smiled over in the direction to where Cody and her family were walking away.

"The girl is smart and has quite the sharp tongue. She _really_ reminds me of you master." Integra visibly twitched as she gritted her teeth. _'__Not in public, do NOT shoot him in public__…__'_

**_'_**_**So cruel Master, I was just stating facts.**_**_'_ **chuckled Alucard. Integra sighed angrily, a big stress mark appearing on her forehead.

"I am going to hurt you later, remember that vampire." Alucard chuckled darkly as they headed back to the party, slightly disappointed that the young girl couldn't have stayed just a while longer; she was quite fun to scare.

* * *

Kazumi; Gods, I know! It's taken a really, REALLY long time to finish this chappie and I'm SO sorry! My computer is acting up and making it so that I can't post my chapters from my Mom's comp. so I have to do it from my Dad's house which is conveniently located right across the street, yes my parents are divorced. So please be patient and I'll post chapter 4 ASAP. Ja ne minna-san, 'till next time! Also, Seras' eyes are BLUE because thats the way they are in the manga since she isn't a TRUE Nosferatu yet. 


	4. Crimson Tears

Kazumi: Alright then, it's the fourth chappie of 'A Scarlet Letter'. A forewarning, this chapter is a very sad one that includes death and destruction, you just might cry. DISCLAIMER!- I don't own Hellsing but if I did, I would sic them on every one of my enemies. BOOYAH!

_'Text'_- Thoughts

**_'Text'_**- Alucard's thoughts

_Text_/**_Text_**/**Text** - Word emphasis 

**"****_Text_"**- Ghoul sounds

* * *

Crimson Tears

"So Cody dear, who were your strange friends?"

Cody jerked out of her trance to look at her mother in the front seat, "Huh?"

"Your friends honey, the ones you talking to out on the balcony. We saw them from inside the ballroom."

"Oh! Those friends…well…" this was a difficult question. She really didn't want to be the one to tell her family that they were both vampires. But before she could say anything Page perked up with her two-cents.

"You wont bewive it mommy, it was Mr. Alucard! Wemember him?" Everyone in the car swerved around to stare at the girls. Ian looked over at Cody with amazement in his eyes.

"Is Pagie serious? That was him; for real?!"

Her father spoke up, "Now why didn't you tell us sweetheart? We wanted to thank him."

"I already thanked him for us all, and besides I didn't want you to get in trouble with your associates–" _'__Oh crud! I didn't just say that! PLEASE tell me I did NOT just say that aloud!__'_

"Dear, what are you talking about?" her mother said. Cody looked at her strangely as she caught her mother's stern tone. But...her mom couldn't know about that, could she? Cody was sweating bullets now as she turned to face her father. His face held the fatherly calm, but his eyes had the look of You-shouldn't-know-about-that-so-how-do-you in them. "Um… Mom? Dad?"

"We'll talk about it inside Cody." He said before turning back to the steering-wheel,

She looked to her siblings for comfort, but they seemed just as shocked and confused as she was. "A-alright…" she mumbled. And with just a slip of the tongue, she was in the deepest trouble she had, and would ever be in with her mother and father…

---------

"Sir Integra, we have a new report."

Integra looked up from her seemingly endless stack of paperwork to the butler standing in her doorway, "Yes Walter?"

He straightened his monocle, "A new report has come in from one of our infiltration units. They have come upon a plan from a FREAK group called "Caedes" for an assassination attempt."

"The Latin word for blood and slaughter, go on," Integra raised an eyebrow; this was very unlike 'them'. Usually it wouldn't be a plan, unless it was like the situation with _Millennium_, it would just be a spontaneous FREAK attack on some random town. This could be a serious case…

Walter nodded as he continued, "Right then. It seems that the head of this particular group has constructed an assassination on a family that had failed once before and is now going to happen again tonight."

She lit one of her expensive cigars and gnawed on it sternly. "Well I guess that we'll just have to take care of it then, wont we? When was the first attempt?"

"The first of March, Sir," he replied. She narrowed her eyes, why was that date familiar?

"And where?"

"In the town of Burford… is there something wrong Sir Integra?" asked Walter as he watched her shuffle through her desk.

"There is something about that date and town that I recognize," Integra said as she pulled out a file, "Here it is; March 1st, 2005. Ghoul attack on the small town of Burford…Dispatched Unit G-16, senior officer Capitan Seras Victoria and Alucard…Nothing seems to be ringing any bells Walter–" She was cut short by a small white envelope falling out of the file and onto the floor. _'__Of course! THAT attack, why didn't I realize it before?__'_ She quickly picked up the note and read it over quickly before turning back to Walter. "Does the report say who the target of the assassination was?"

Walter looked back at vanilla colored folder, "It's a Mr. Michael Dwight Brooks."

Integra paled noticeably. _'__It can't be–__'_ "Walter; get Unit A-05, Seras, and Alucard out there right away, we have a grave situation on our hands."

His face turned into a serious frown before exiting the room, "Yes Sir Integra."

She lit another cigar and hesitated, _'__I pray that we make it there in time__…__'_

---------

Cody fidgeted nervously in the kitchen chair as her father paced before her, Mrs. Brooks seated not to far away. _'__I shoulda kept my big, FAT, mouth shut God dammit! Damn damn damn DAMN!__'_

"Do you know why we are angry at you Cody?" inquired said father. She mumbled softly and scuffed her feet against the hardwood floor, "Answer me young lady!"

She jerked up and looked up at him with tear-ridden eyes, biting her lip as to not cry. "I-it's because I looked into something I shouldn't had, sir…"

"That's right. My work is nothing to pry into Cody; you could get into serious trouble, which is why I decided to only tell your mother about this matter." He sighed heavily as he walked over to Cody and hugged her gently, "I'm sorry to have scared you, but it seemed to be the only way to get through to you, do you understand?"

"Mm-hm…" she replied quietly as her mother joined in on the comfort-fest.

"Sweetie we love you so much, we just don't want you getting involved in something bigger than you."

Cody looked up into their faces, this time they seemed really sincere. "Can I go to bed now?"

"Sure thing kiddo, go get some sleep. But none of this gets out to your siblings, is that understood?"

She stood at attention and gave him a mock salute, "Yes sir!" and marched up the stairs towarsd the bedroom shared by her and her brother and sister.

"So how'd it go?" asked Ian as Cody entered the large bedroom.

She sighed, "Nothing special. Just the usual lecture, and so on and so forth…" She flopped down on the bed and was just about to turn off the light when she noticed her sister by the window, pale and shaking like a leaf and whimpering noticeably. "Pagie?" She and her brother rushed over to calm her, "Page, what is it?"

"Talk to us Page!"

The small girl whimpered as she pointed out the window into the darkness fearfully, "I-its t-thoshe t-things a-again…T-they're b-back…" Cody gazed intensely out the window as Page clung to the front of her pajamas, but sure enough the sight that greeted her was not one that she wished to see again; coming out of the woods was an army of ghouls. There seemed to be about thirty of them, and in the front were three grown men, oddly enough though, they weren't being ripped to shreds by the zombie fleet behind them, which meant only one thing…

"Vampires," she whispered roughly. She stood up and spun around to face her siblings and quickly took to action. "Ian! Take Page and get mom and dad, tell them to arm themselves; don't open any doors or windows, lock them up real tight. If those things start attacking, get them in the head or heart, they won't die by anything else! I'm going to call for help, just go downstairs and I'll be with you in a minute–" Ian was about to open his mouth to say something but was stopped by her shouting again, "DON'T ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, JUST GO!"

He was about to go off to their parents when he came back and enveloped Cody in a loving hug and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I love you sis, just be careful alright?" She almost started crying when Page came up and did the same thing.

"I will, and I love you too, now get outta here you two..." He smiled warmly and rushed off with Page in hand as Cody scrambled for the phone and dialed the police.

"Hello? Burford sheriffs department how can I help you–"

"Look I don't have much time mister, patch me into the Hellsing agency now!" There was an uncomfortable silence over the line before the sheriff-person responded.

"Exactly how do you know about that?!"

"JUST PATCH ME IN YOU BLOODY IDIOT! WE'RE GONNA DIE OUT HERE IF WE DON'T GET HELP!"

"…Alright miss just hang on," Cody was given elevator music as she waited. _'__I swear if this is the last thing I hear before I die I'm gonna–__'_

"Hello?" a familiar voice came over the phone.

"Sir Hellsing! Oh my God, its Cody Brooks – there's ghouls swarming all over the place and there are vampires with them!"

"Cody, listen. I know what's going on but you have to stay calm. There are people on they're way out there right now. Arm yourselves and stay inside the house–" The conversation was interrupted by the sound of gun shots, screaming and the breaking of glass.

"They're in the house; they're in the fricking house! What do I do?!"

Integra sensed the panic in the young girls' voice, "Stay out of sight, we're comi–" That's all that was said before the line was disconnected.

"Shit…" Cody dropped the phone in shock. She and her entire was stuck in a house…fifteen minutes away from civilization, with NO phone, and to top it all off, they had gotten into the house. "Oh, we are so effing screwed." Cody cursed as she reached under her bed for the 45 chrome pistol she was given by her uncle in America. His exact words were _"Don't use it unless you're under dire circumstances."_ Not even her mom or dad knew about it. "Well Uncle Herbie, looks like my present will be of great use." And with that she flew down the stairs.

---------

Soldiers rushed about to find and eliminate the ghouls, while he sauntered to the edge of the trees.

"Master!" The Nosferatu Alucard turned at the sound of his fledgling's voice and saw her running towards him, Harkonnen Cannon in hand. "Master, where were you going?"

Alucard smirked and turned back to the forest, recalling what his own Master had said to him before he embarked. _'__Do not waste any time; go straight to the girl and her family, they are in great peril__…__'_"I have my own orders Police girl. Finish your job here then come find me," he said before melting into the darkness.

Seras Victoria sighed and threw up her hands in exasperation, muttering a "Bloody vampire…" before shooting a ghoul right between the eyes.

---------

It was taking no time at all to reach the front yard, but the sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one. There were ghouls everywhere, but every so often he caught the sight of dead ghouls, as though something, or someone, was fighting back. Alucard smirked and made his way to the house plowing through the ghouls that got in his way. As he reached the door, he noticed that it was brutally ripped off its hinges, and both windows broken in; but made his way inside. There was blood and glass covering the floor, everything was either broken or completely destroyed. But it was the bodies that made him scowl in disgust. They were soaked with blood; he even saw a limb or two that had been ripped off and gnawed on, then again so was the rest of the cadaver. In the hallway he saw a small arm stretched out, as if reaching for someone. It wouldn't be long until the carcasses themselves turned into ghouls.

When suddnely three loud gunshots caught the No-Life-King's abrupt attention.

He sauntered into the kitchen to see a ghoul fall, and the shooter of the gun. It was a young girl clad in blood-soaked pajama's; both from ghouls and from herself. As she turned around, her glazed eyes widened at the fact the he was in the room.

"You…you made it…thank God…"said Cody, as she pitched forward, but was caught by Alucard. He surveyed the situation at hand; the girl, young Cody, had been bleeding for a while, she wouldn't last much longer at this rate. "They…they killed them all Alucard…they're all dead…" Cody bit her lip trying as hard as she could not to cry in front of the grown man. She gasped roughly and coughed up specks of blood. "The ghouls…burst in through the back first…and I came downstairs to help but…they were already flooding the room…I yelled for them to get something to protect themselves but……" she couldn't finish, but Alucard could assume what happened. "The vampires that came with the ghouls had already left…" He frowned at the fact that the only things he had gotten to kill that night were the damn ghouls, but right now he had more important matters at hand. His master told him to protect the family, although most of them were gone now…

"**_Uuuuggghhhhh_**….." His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a familiar sound came to his un-dead ears. Cody winced as she too recognized it but was not prepared for what came around the corner.

"No….it can't be…" Four ghouls came around the corner, somewhat resembling what had used to be her siblings and parents at one point. Alucard grimaced as the once happy, youthful Page came slowly staggering into the room, bowels trailing along behind her, moaning. "God…no…please…," Cody cupped her face in her hands as Alucard moved in front of her, drawing his _Jackal_ in the process, focuaig a lone red eye on the targets before him as they lurched towards the duo. But as he was just about to shoot, a figure shot up and latched itself onto his arm. "ALUCARD NO! DON'T SHOOT THEM, PLEASE! I BEG YOU! Please…don't shoot…" He lowered his arm but picked up her own gun off the floor and offered it to her.

"Put them out of their misery. They are not the loving family you once knew. They did not choose to become what they are now. The only means for releasing them from this torture is to let them go." She looked up for a moment, contemplating what he had just asked her to do, and slowly but steadily took the gun from him and walked toward the things that was once her family. As they reached for her in their hunger; she looked up at them with her tear-streaked face and brought the 45 up. "I-I'm so sorry…I love y-you…s-so much..."

A series of gunshots followed.

He looked onto the face of the young girl; she was broken and dying, even if she managed to live through this experience she would be orphaned and probably traumatized for the rest of her life. Alucard made his decision, walked over and kneeled beside the silent girl; her eyes shadowed from her bangs and her face red from shed tears. "It hurts, but it was the only way."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her free hand, "But…but now, God…what am I going to do now?" He placed a gloved on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring glance.

"I will give you a choice; you can either die here, which will be very soon, and return to your family in heaven, or you can come with me." Cody looked at him from the place she was sitting, considering the choices. If she chose to die right here and now, she would never get to the age of sixteen, never be able to get a boyfriend, and never get to do a lot of things if she lived. But if she went with Alucard…well it was a lot better than the first choice, she thought. She looked up at him and nodded solemnly. He smiled and gathered her in his arms, gently cradling her shoulders. "Just close your eyes…" As she did so she felt his presence right by her ear. Her breathing and heart rate sped up just enough for the Nosferatu to notice. He chuckled softly, "There's nothing to worry about, the pain will only linger for a few seconds." She relaxed once more, feeling a hard nipping sensation on the side of her neck. After that, a comforting darkness enveloped her and she knew no more.

---------

As Integra hurriedly got out of her car, she scanned the front yard for any sign of Alucard. At the moment all she saw were her soldiers checking around for any more ghouls; she groaned slightly. "Damn it all Alucard, where are you?!"

**_'__Right here Master.'_** Integra whirled around to find her servant standing in the doorway of the once proud Brook residence with a small, sleeping figure cradled in his arms. "The target has been silenced Master…" She looked down at the teenage girl resting in her servant's arms,

"How is she?"

Alucard glanced at Cody's now peaceful face. It was only for a second, but Integra could've sworn that she saw pity in his blood-red eyes. "She is the only one left. Her family were ghouls seconds after I had arrived; there was nothing I could do to help them." There was still something troubling her; this scene was very familiar to her. It almost looked like the one many years ago when Alucard turned Seras–

She glared at him almost immediately. "Tell me you didn't." Her midian servant slowly looked at her, his gaze hardened so that even Integra herself felt uncomfortable under the stare.

"You told me to take care of her, _Master_, so I did. She chose this path of her own free will, just like the Police Girl. And besides…" His voice reverted back into the annoying, pompous Nosferatu that she knew and put up with every bloody day, "You didn't tell me _how_ exactly I was supposed to take care of her." Integra scowled as she pulled her gun out and shot the infuriating Midian in the back of the head as her was walking away, snickering at his Master's own frustration. She sighed; hopefully this one was more cooperative in her eating habits than another vampire fledgling that she could think of. As she made her way back to her car, she could only wonder what Alucard's new recruit would bring to the Hellsing Organization.

* * *

Kazumi: Wow long chappie, I will be updating my other stories very soon so don't worry. Ja ne and R&R! 


	5. Good Evening, New Horizons

Kazumi: Hey guys! God, it took me SOOOOO long to finally get this 5th chapter up because the document uploading system wouldn't let me, DARN YOU UPLOADING SYSTEM! But I informed them of it and they went and fixed it! Yay! Anywho, onto the next chapter of 'A Scarlet Letter', whose name I do not own XP. But first the DISCLAIMER! I don't own Hellsing in any way I assure you; then again if I did…ano…heh, heh, um…you guys don't wanna know XD. Alrighty then, BANZAI!

_'__Text'_- Thoughts

**_'_****_Text'_**- Alucard's thoughts…cause they're just that scary

**'****Text'**- Sound effects, word emphasis

_Text_- Word emphasis

_"__Text" _- Flashbacks

* * *

Good Evening, New Horizons

After what had seemed like an eternity to the young girl, Cody Brooks finally opened her eyes to a pitch black that completely surrounded her on all sides. She gasped sharply as the clear memories of last night flooded back to her and suddenly sat up–

**'****WHACK!'**

– Only to have her head smack into something very, VERY hard.

"OOOOWWWWW! WHAT THE **BEEP **JUST **BEEPING** HIT ME IN THE **BEEPING** HEAD, SONOFFA**BEEP**! **BEEP BEEP BEEPING BEEPITY BEEEEP**!" Apparently, the pain didn't go over well with her; but, she was soon astounded as the blinding sting vanished without a trace. It was as if she was never hurt in the first place.

_'__Oookaay…that was just a bit weird, wait–_ _'_ She remembered reading about something like this a while back at a library near her house when she was researching about the things that attacked her home…

_"-__True Vampires cannot easily be wounded like the normal human, as only silver bullets can injure them__…__-"_

_'__Oh, I get it. Because I'm not a TRUE Vampire I can still be hurt a bit, but the pain doesn't last long.'_ She stopped thinking abruptly and sighed heavily at the words that had surfaced from her thoughts.

Vampire.

She sucked in deep unneeded breaths as she stared at the darkness around her. It felt strange, _she_ felt strange…_inhuman…_

"But, that's what I am now, right? …great, now I'm talking to myself." She thought back to the Queen's party where she had coincidentally met up with Alucard again, and to what the vampire had told her.

**_'_**_**I had already "lost it" when I gave my humanity away.'**_

_'__Great, I was always joking with my friends about being a crazy person; now I AM one'_ She sighed again, _'and a **monster** on top of that__…__'_ God, she really felt like crying right now. It was as if a huge weight suddenly collapsed onto her shoulders as she thought about her future; an immortal life that would never end.

She would never see her family again.

She could never see her friends again.

She would never see the sun again, well maybe on rainy days but it really didn't count.

She could never eat normal food again.

Many more of those kinds of thoughts ran through the back of her mind until she came across one that livened her up greatly.

_She would NEVER have to go to school again…EVER!_

An ecstatic grin graced her lips as she mentally cheered about never going back to the dreadful building again for the rest of her natural- eh…_unnatural_ life. …That thought brought her joyfulness back down again. Suddenly she heard a large thump above her followed by a continuous whirring sound. The darkness was lifted away and little by little she could make out a stone room. Finally after a minute or so she could finally sit up and looked back at the thing she was laying on.

It looked like a four poster bed, but when she looked up she could make out some sort of lid attached to a mechanical system. Then to her left she heard a kind voice.

"Walter made it for me; I guess you could call it my four poster coffin." She looked up to find a smiling strawberry-blonde looking down at her. Cody sweat-dropped.

"A four poster……coffin?" Seras sheepishly rubbed her head and nodded. "That's really weird."

"Well, a lot of things around here are weird, I kinda got used to it after a while." Cody sighed and got up off the bed, stretching her limbs on the cold floor.

"Nhh! Yikes, how long was I out for?" Seras put her finger to her lips made a small 'hmm' noise.

"Um, no more than five hours I think."

"FIVE HOURS?! JEEZ!" Cody jumped up and frantically looked at her watch, "Damn, you weren't kidding…"

Seras shrugged, "Well, Master did say that you might be resting for a while after the turning." Seras stopped after she saw Cody freeze up. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean--"

Cody shook her head and smiled weakly. "No no, it's okay. I'm just gonna have to get used to it anyway. By the way, do you know where Sir Hellsing is? I want to speak with her." Seras nodded and started to walk out of the room with her.

"Yes. If you keep on going down this hallway you'll come to a stairwell, and if you go up that you'll come across another one that you also go up. After that keep heading straight down the hallway until you come to two oak doors, that's her office. Master should be with her anyway, so just follow the shouting if you get lost." Cody chuckled a bit at the last part and waved goodbye as she walked down the corridor.

------

"Master, please calm down--"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!! DO** NOT** TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, DAMN IDIOT OF A VAMPIRE! HOW DARE YOU!! YOU WENT AND TURNED ANOTHER **CHILD**, DAMMIT ALL!"

"She is hardly a child Master; she can take perfectly good care of herself–"

"SHE'S ONLY _FIFTEEN_ ALUCARD! THE POLICE GIRL WAS _**NINETEEN** _AND IS NOW **_TWENTY_**; SHE'S BEEN WITH US FOR A YEAR NOW! _STOP_ ARGUING WITH ME ABOUT THIS SUBJECT!"

Seras hadn't been kidding about the quarrelling between the master and servant. Cody had been sitting at the foot of the doors listening to this for about ten minutes or more; she lost count of the time some time ago. So far it had been all about her. She hadn't even dared to speak, knock on the door, or even _think_ because of the male vampire's abilities. She turned her attention back to the door when it abruptly went calm inside the office.

"I'm sure she'll make a _fine_ Hellsing operative Master, as well as a vampire. She may be young but she has potential. I saw her wielding a gun well enough inside her residence during the incident to defend her life. Also, she doesn't seem to be all that bothered by the sight of blood; I believe she's quite the fearless young woman." Integra gnawed on her cigar and blew out a long stream of smoke irritatedly.

"Didn't you say that she threatened you at the ball?" Alucard smirked and leaned back in the wooden chair he was sitting in.

"Heh, yes. I believe the phrase was "I'm going to knock those fangs out of your mouth if you do not cut this shit out", or something along those lines. Isn't that right, _Miss Brooks_?" Outside the room she stumbled back, freaking out.

_'__Crap, busted!'_ She heard an all-too familiar chuckling inside her mind as a dark voice spoke up.

_**'**_**_So sorry I've blown your cover, now do come in.'_**

_'You __did that on purpose! Crud…' _Cody sighed and slowly opened one of the giant wooden doors to reveal a large office room and two familiar people. Sir Hellsing; who was sitting behind a large desk with some medium-sized stacks of paper on it and Alucard who was sitting in a chair in front of it; Integra turned her gaze from the vampire and motioned to a second chair next to Alucard's.

"Have a seat Miss Brooks." Cody nodded as she closed the door and made her way over to the chair, sitting down and slightly fidgeted with her feet. "How long were outside the door Miss Brooks?" She looked up and made eye contact with the blonde haired woman like she was taught by her father.

She mentally winced as the thought brought up painful memories. "Ten minutes or more; I lost track Ma'am." Integra looked her over and blew out more of the smoke from her cigar.

"Alright then, I will keep this short and simple. Cody Brooks; because of the actions of my servant and yourself you have now become a member of the undead race of Vampires. Your family members, as I was informed, are all dead. At this point there is no choice but to recruit you into the Hellsing Organization. Do you understand what I have just told you?" Cody looked up at her and gave a serious nod.

"Yes, Sir Hellsing."

A small smile adorned Hellsing's face for a moment. _'Maybe Alucard had a point. She's determined enough for now, I'll give her that. We'll see how she fares after a mission or two…'_ "Miss Brooks," Cody stood up respectively. She had done this military inducting routine with her father many times when she was a child along with Ian. "Do you swear on your life to serve in this Organization to protect Queen and country?"

"Yes, Sir Hellsing." Cody's hand went to her temple in a quick salute.

Integra raised her hand in a salute as well. "Then by the power invested in me, I do herby acknowledge you as our newest Hellsing operative. In the name of God, all impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation. Amen." Their hands were lowered as Integra turned to Alucard. "Alucard if you please."

"I hear and obey, my Master." The smirking Nosferatu rose out of his seat and walked by his new fledgling, silently giving her a telepathic message to follow him out of the room as well. Cody turned back to the Hellsing and gave her a quick bow before trailing behind the towering midian as they left. Integra stood up and pressed a button on the intercom that lay on her desk.

"Walter, Miss Brooks will need a room in the dungeons."

"Shall I put her in a room by Miss Victoria, Sir Integra?"

"Yes, I think that would suffice, thank you." The Hellsing sighed and sat back down in her plush office chair, once again picking up her cigar and calmly chewing on the end as she returned to the never-ending paperwork.

-------

An eerie stillness drifted between the two undead as they walked away from the Hellsing's office. Every so often Cody would glance up from her gaze at the floor to the incredibly tall man in front of her. And every so often the Nosferatu would glance back at his youngest fledgling through the red tinted glasses with interest; also taking a peek at her thoughts every few seconds or so. After a while he found one worth responding to.

_'…__-o who is this guy anyway? If I'm going to have this guy watching me for the rest of my unlife, which is pretty damn creepy, I wanna know who he is–'_

_**'**_**_I am the Ultimate Undead, the Hellsing Organization's trump card for the eradication of the FREAKs that plague this country. That's odd, I could've sworn I told you this before.'_** Alucard could feel the young girl's death glare concentrating very hard on burning holes into the back of his skull.

"I'm going to say this again, and I don't care if I am your fledgling now or not, quit – reading – my – mind – right – **NOW**." He chuckled darkly.

"My my, you haven't lost that feistiness of yours, that's good. You will be needing it for your stay here." Alucard suddenly turned left through an archway onto a simple balcony and stood silently by the banister, staring into the twilight of the very early morning. Cody looked at him oddly and followed him, sitting on the railing beside him.

_'__What is he staring at?'_ She followed his gaze upward. _'The…moon?'_

"Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question, but that didn't stop Cody from giving him the look that said 'Stop-peeking-in-on-my-thoughts-or-I'll-shove-that-overly-large-gun-of-yours-where-the-sun-don't-shine', but she calmed down and took in their surroundings. She, before the incident where she became a vampire, had always liked the dark. Unlike her siblings when they were young, it had always seemed to calm her greatly when she was upset or angry. Now as she looked up at the volumous orb of light it almost felt as if a large dark blanket drew around her, protecting her from any harm.

"..Uh-huh, very nice out…" Alucard smirked softly as he watched Cody close her eyes at the peacefulness; but even so, he could feel something holding her back. His eyes lowered again as his lips set into a firm line.

"What happened to your family, it is not your fault; realize that you did nothing wrong in the choice that you made." The young girl watched him closely and gripped the rail slightly. The memories of the episode that took place five hours ago slithered into her consciousness like a poisonous snake, tears threatened to come forth. "You _saved _them from a fate worse than death which is very commendable…" **_'I believe consoling Integra at this age was a much easier job than this.'_**

Cody rubbed her eyes, tears leaking into her shirt. "I know…I really do, but…I could've stopped it. I should've gotten down there sooner, I just…" Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I _will_ get them for this. I will find the ones responsible and make them _pay_ for the pain that they caused me." The Midian chuckled as her tone became threatening and for a second he could see her eyes flash a fearsome red.

_**'**_**_Now we are getting somewhere.'_** Suddenly the young fledgling sighed and hung her head. "Is there something the matter?"

"Yes." She looked up at the Midian with blatantly confused eyes, "I have _no_ idea whatsoever of how to be a vampire…so, what the hell do I do? The only vampires I know of are you, Seras, and the ones I read about in book. I have NO idea whatsoever of what being a vampire is like, ya know, except they drink blood and all that." Her shoulders sagged sadly, "if had known what the hell I was getting to I should've just-"

"**Don't say that**."

Startled, Cody jumped back a smidgen from her seat on the balcony. _'Er, I think I said something I should have__…__'_ In front of her, Alucard was giving her a very stern stare and the feeling of guilt washed over her. After a few minutes of silence it softened. He moved behind her and put one of his gloved hands onto her shoulder, almost reassuringly. _'Okaaaay then, officially confused by this man.'_

"Don't say that…you have nothing to regret from your decision." His blood-red eyes stared into her still earthly brown ones over the top of the glasses. "You did what you currently thought was right, and there is _nothing_ wrong with that." He stood up again and looked to the horizon, which was starting to turn into the lighter colors of the dawn. "And besides," Alucard's mouth twitched upwards into that oh-so famous, and irritating, smirk of his, "it's not that hard. If a FREAK can do it, then so can you."

"I'll consider that a _compliment_." Cody smiled, "Yeah, like Seras! She's got it down–" Alucard's face drooped slightly and he raised his hand to his forehead, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Uh…or not. Is there something wrong with her?"

"She refuses to drink any blood, even if it weakens her. I've tried everything and even my Master has talked to her once or twice about it." He looked down at Cody slyly, "but, maybe you might have a good influence on her."

_'__Oh, I do NOT like that look he's giving me…'_ "What _exactly_…do you mean by that?" She edged a teensy bit away from him.

"Oh, nothing," He sneered, "I was just thinking of how you might be able to help the Police Girl with her drinking problem." Cody's hands flew to her mouth to try and smother the giggling fit trying to surface.

_'__Oooh, that is TOO funny! 'Drinking problem' Hahaha!'_ The sound of Alucard's jacket fluttering in the wind passed her as the towering vampire went back inside the manor while Cody stifled her chuckling. "Ah! Hey, where are you going?" She jumped off her perch and followed him as he turned to go down the second set of stairs and into the dungeons.

He whirled around and faced the young girl that stood at the top of the stairs that led to the second floor. "To bed of course." He pointed to one of the windows in the foyer. Outside daylight was just starting to break, the sun barely peaking over the horizon. "Even though I am one of the few who can actually stand the sun, it is quite irritating sometimes. Since you are not able to stand direct sunlight, I suggest you do the same." As he went down the first floor stairs Cody sighed and followed suit. As anxious as she was about her new life, she'd have to wait until later, when she could come out once again.

"Tch, this is going to be hard to get used to…"

* * *

Kazumi: WAI! Fifth chappie, done and UP! Sooo HAPPY! I apologize that it's so short; I'm currently on a brain fart XP. I'm gonna try to get all of my stories to seven chapters before I write any new ones. That way, it'll be easy to update them in succession. Okay then, onto the next story chapter, YOSH! Hope you liked it minna-san! P.S. - PLEASE REVIEW! Ja ne! 


	6. Letting Go

Kazumi: I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRRYYYYYYY!!!! I know that this update took way too damn long and I'm _SORRRRYYYYYYY_!!!! -cries- I am ashamed to be a fanfiction writer…the fact that when I was first writing this chapter my Microsoft Word went schizophrenic on me and deleted it when I was almost a third done with it will not leave me alone to this very day. Oh the a-go-nyyy… Alright, so just as a heads up I'm telling you all that after I'm done writing the next upcoming chapters for my _'Slayers'_,_ 'Yu Yu Hakusho'_, and _'Bishonen World'_ fanfics, I'll start to concentrate on one fan-fiction at a time so I'll get them done quicker. GOTG,AAT will be the first to finish so be ready for it. Also, I'm going to be rewriting a few of them as well. …ahem, now that I'm done making a fool of myself let's continue - DISCLAIMER! - I don't own _'Hellsing'_. Trust me, I would definitely know if I did (and I'd totally brag about it too ). Let's go!

'_Text'_- Thoughts

_Text_ - Flashbacks

'_**Text'**_- Alucard's thoughts…cause they're just that scary

_Text_/_**Text**_/**Text** - Word emphasis

* * *

Letting Go

Click.

The clattering sound of stone on stone lightly echoed throughout the spacious, bookshelf-lined room. As the evening twilight had just started to stream through the rectangular windows, two figures reclining in dual maroon lounge chairs sat around a marble chess set. The one commanding the black pieces was an old man with a monocle before his left eye and a white streak in his pulled back black hair. The one that hovered in deep concentration over the white players was a young girl with shoulder length hair, pulled into a loose bun at the base of her neck, and lively brown eyes.

Suddenly, with a triumphant 'Aha!' the teen picked up one of their pieces and placed it in front of a black one ahead of the white front line. "Check. You're going down this time Walter," she grinned, revealing a pair of larger than normal canines peeking out from either side of her mouth. "I've got you cornered."

"Oh?" The John Bull smiled back wisely, "We'll see Miss Brooks."

"Yeah, we'll see you get beaten by a _fifteen year old girl_." Cody replied smugly, folding her hands behind her head in smug satisfaction at finally giving the wizened opponent a taste of his own medicine. In front of her the butler chuckled in return, tsking as he slowly moved forward towards his pieces. "What? What's with the tsking?" She asked stiffly.

"You know Miss Brooks, the Golden Rule of chess is strategy, but next to that is _patience_." Cody rolled her eyes at the mention of the 'Golden Rules', that sort of thing was drilled into her at an early age by her long dead grandfather; she knew the rules all too well, it was her ability that was lacking. Gently grasping a miniature statue on his left side, the man expertly placed it in front of the one that Cody had moved only moments before. "And once again, Checkmate. That makes us Twenty-six to nothing."

"WHAT?!" Cried the girl, leaping up to examine the board. "But – how – when?!" She looked up after a few minutes to the content butler with a miffed expression. "How the hell did you do that?"

"Years of practice and patience." Walter said while he started to reset the pieces for a new round; Cody joining him in doing so a second later. "Although, now that I think about it, there's one person that I don't think I will ever be able be able to beat at this game."

The girl's head jerked up immediately in interest, a rebellious grin slowly emerged on her visage. "You serious? Who?" _'Maybe they could give me a few pointers on how to beat this geezer…'_ She sneered mentally at the thought of actually beating her elder friend in a strategic competition.

After the night when she was initiated into the Hellsing Organization, she had spent the four weeks up until then slowly getting used to her new…being, so to speak. It was a little harder than she thought with Seras and Alucard often out on missions, but having a certain butler as a sort of co-mentor did helped tremendously, seeing as how he was an ex-member of the esteemed association; she was still having a hard time grasping that particular concept.

Fortunately, there were pictures that not only helped her believe what she had been told, but also provided her with perfect blackmail material for the egotistical Nosferatu.

The monocled man grinned softly to himself as if he could tell what she was thinking before he bluntly stated, "Alucard I'm afraid. No matter how many times I try, he somehow always manages to beat me." He stifled a laugh at the disgruntled face Cody made in response.

"Oh. Goody…" She said flatly. _'There goes my plan, right out the proverbial window. Curses…'_

Walter gave a small, good-natured laugh from across the table, watching as a multitude of sour expressions cross the girl's visage. "Shall we play again Miss Brooks?"

"No thanks Walter," Cody replied while rising from her cushioned seat. "There's something that I need to take care of with Sir Hellsing. Thanks for the offer though; I'll take a rain-check, okay?"

"Certainly, to take care." With the young girl now out of the book-filled den and down the hallway, the butler sighed in content as he made himself thoroughly content in his chair when an abrupt foreboding presence alerted him to the appearance of another. "Back already, are you? How did your mission fare?"

"As usual," the familiar dark voice replied as what could only be described as a walking shadow melted into the chair that Cody had once occupied, quickly taking the form of the mighty pet vampire. Settling back, the midian let his blood-red eyes drift towards the door that his newest fledgling had previously left from. ""So…what's your honest opinion?"

"Of her progress?" Walter asked his dark comrade, "I would say quite well for her age considering. She adapts quickly to her surroundings, but I sense that she still has a few lingering doubts about what happened." A noisy exhale from Alucard drew the Shinigami's attention. "Something the matter?"

"She seems to be hesitating in taking the next step into her unlife," he explained with an amused smile, brushing a lock of hair out of his vision. "Unfortunately, I doubt that there's anything that I would be able to do about it."

The butler perked an eyebrow at the strange statement, "Really? You, not being able do have someone do something, much less a child a mere fraction of your age? …how so?" The vampire chuckled as he allowed his sight to wander around the room.

"Cody is stronger in will than Seras, however much younger she is. I suspect, from my own observations, that any forceful move that I make to push her towards her destined goal will be met with hateful opposition and be turned away without a second thought." He ran a gloved hand through his jet-black hair while rolling his head back to stare at the ceiling. "This will just be something that she will have to figure her out on her own."

"It seems to be that way doesn't it?" As a silence began to fall over the room, save for the occasional ticking of the Grandfather clock that towered on the west wall, Walter looked to his sinister companion, a smirk slowly creeping onto his face. "Say, old friend," he said casually, leaning forward and picking up his black king, holding it before him, "What do you say to a game of chess?" With a trademark scare-you-shitless leer, the Nosferatu lowered his head to look into the gaze of his challenger.

"I say that I accept Angel, only if I get black."

-------

_'__Okay, just ask and get it over with you. You'll feel better when you do.'_

The inner conscious of the teen berated as Cody continued walking down the corridor. She groaned, stopping mid-step to hold a hand to her head with bits of memories from the time she had arrived at the manor to now encircling her thoughts. She recalled that after _that night_ she started on the path towards her new, prolonged future working for the secret organization.

Something that she found out quickly enough was that her new Master was more of a pain in her side than she originally thought. When he wasn't out on the job, he was her ultimate guide, besides Walter and the very seldom Sir Hellsing, constantly bothered her about her unlife, as he called it, and about her abilities as a newborn vampire.

Which brought her around to the first rule-

Blood. As in you _must_ drink it to survive. No ifs, ands or buts. Period.

At first she wanted nothing to do with it. It felt like the last connection to her family was slowly being sliced away by her new being; but after Alucard purposely let her starve for a few days once he heard what her opinion was, she finally gave in to the urge.

Her only dislike was when her dinner was served cold.

Surprisingly enough, the Nosferatu was right about one thing concerning her drinking habits. Ever since Cody had accepted blood as her permanent food source, and had slightly mentioned it to her sister fledgling, she had sometimes seen Seras gradually following her lead when she _thought_ she was alone; but it was still only rarely.

Cody had noticed something else as well. Ever since she had become a Hellsing operative, she noticed that she started to have an extreme dislike of being weak. Rather than let herself become weak baggage that someone else had to take care of like _that night_, Cody would become someone that could care for themselves like her parents had wanted her to do. And to do that, she needed to do one last thing before she fully set off into her existence as an immortal; something she desperately needed the Hellsing Heir for.

Now, standing at the giant oak doors to the director's office, the burnet took a deep breath and connected her knuckles to the door. _'Here goes nothing…'_ "Sir Hellsing?"

"Enter." The command came through loud and clear through the thick wood, not all that surprising though. Opening the door slightly the burnet slipped through, closing it behind her before slowly turning back to face the knight. "Hello Miss Brooks," she said monotone, looking up from her seemingly endless pile of paperwork; Cody's hand twitched a bit at her greeting. For some strange reason, she always thought it was very unnerving to be alone in the same room as the older woman. It might've been because her presence was equally menacing, if not more, as her Master's, but the iciness of her gaze was probably the key to it all; hopefully, she'd get used to it soon. "How are you faring?"

"Pretty good." Cody replied smiling. _'Though it wouldn't kill you or Walter to call me by my first name, it feels like I'm in school.'_ "I'm doing better than I was last week…" she paused, taking a deep breath. "Sir, may…may I ask a favor?" The blonde's wintery eyes washed over her with interest.

"Depends on the favor." She stated sternly after noticing a change in the girl's attitude. She refused to look at her in the eye, only concentrating on her feet or at the area around them. She wrung her hands nervously behind her back and bit her lip slightly. _'What on earth is she so nervous about? I know that she is usually intimidated when we're alone, but this is odd, even for her…'_ "Go on, I won't bite you."

The teen jerked up out of her fidgety trance at Integra's teasing tone. "Oh! Sorry…" _'Did she just make a joke? Never mind…dammit, get your head in the game and get – it – over – with!'_

"Perfectly alright, please continue."

"Right." She took another deep breath before taking a small step towards the knight. "Sir Hellsing, I-I have some unfinished business that I _need_ to do of before I move on with my life…in so few words" The burnet glanced up from where she stood, trying to be as unwavering as possible in the face of her superior.

"What would this 'unfinished business' of yours be Miss Brooks?" The director queried while taking out a silver cigar case from her desk drawer, removing one of the thick sticks from its package. "Need I remind you that you 'died' that night. Whatever business that you need to take care of, remember to keep that in mind. Also," the frozen blue orbs met brown as she looked intensely down at the teen standing in front of her desk. "Never forget that this organization is strictly founded on the element of complete and total secrecy. We _don't_ need another situation like yours happening again. Do you understand?"

_'__Great, make me feel __**worse**__…'_ Cody thought cryptically, nodding her head. "Yes."

"What do you need to do?"

"Go somewhere."

"_Where _exactly?"

"My old hometown, my house specifically."

"…alright, I'll arrange for your transportation with Walter." The girl silently cheered gleefully, ever maintaining a straight face while Integra pressed a button on the intercom that lay on the upper right corner of the table she sat at labeled 'Den'. "Walter."

"Ah…yes Sir Hellsing?" The butler said through the box, Cody's eyebrows furrowed curiously at the faintest sound of stone on stone that she heard in the background.

"I need for you to take Miss Brooks to her hometown for a while." The platinum blonde ordered gently. After a few minutes of no reply however, and the continuous clicking noise that only Cody seemed to pick up on, the older woman had also begun to look at the speakers quizzically. "Walter?" She asked cautiously, only to be startled along with Cody a second later when a much deeper voice came through the machine.

"My apologies Master for keeping you in suspense. The Angel and I are currently in the middle of something." An extremely small twitch predictably formed at the corner of Integra Hellsing's left eye as she glared flaming daggers at the box on her desk.

"Alucard."

"Yes Master?"

"What on earth could you two be doing that would be so important?" There was yet another pause before Walter's voice came through once again after a click.

"Chess. I'll be right up Sir, check." Not a moment later another click was heard along with the satisfied retort of 'Checkmate' from the midian. Sighing, the Hellsing closed the line and turned back to the newest of her wards.

"Alright, go and wait by the front doors and, hopefully, he'll be with you in a minute if he and that git don't start another round."

"Thank you sir," Cody bowed quickly and walked briskly out of the room, trying to leave as quickly as possible before she started giggling in front of her boss. It was only until she turned a couple of corners when she couldn't hold her amusement any longer and let out a belt of laughter that the Hellsing mistress took notice of from her seat.

_'__I cannot have just one normal day around here, can I?'_ She thought hopelessly, finally lighting the cigar that she had taken out a while back. Taking a long draw, the woman moved her gaze to the ceiling, allowing that question to float aimlessly around her mind-

**_'_**_**No.'**_ That was until a _certain_ annoyance permeated the security of her own private thoughts.

And it's the return of the eye twitch.

-------

"We've arrived at your requested destination." Walter proclaimed as the white car slowed to a stop in front of the girl's old drive way. Tentatively stepping out of the vehicle, she glanced down at her digital watch from watching her deserted home without a readable expression as it sounded the hour of eight o' clock with a series of short electronic beeps.

"At what time would you like me to pick you up?" He continued.

"Around eleven or so if you can manage it, when you're getting close just give be a buzz on the phone Sir Hellsing gave me and I'll meet you out front." She replied with a smile. With a nod, the butler closed the car window and drove off down the gravel road, leaving Cody standing in front of her forgotten home. Walking in the direction of the front porch, she noticed that it severely reminded her of a haunted house straight out of a scary story. Like that 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movie that she had seen with her older brother when she was little. She didn't get it back then, but seeing the teenagers running around like chickens with their heads cut off made her laugh even though she knew that they were going to die later on. As she grew older, Cody finally understood why exactly her male sibling had been grounded for the entirety of two months.

_'__Four hours, huh?'_ The young girl thought as she took a sharp right off of the gravel and onto the grass, soon entering the small forest that separated her house from the rest of the neighborhood. _'Awesome timing, they should all be in one place then.'_ It took her less than five minutes to reach the suburban area, halting briefly as a few old memories from her childhood emerged, only to be beaten back harshly by the annoying reminder of why she was there in the first place. As she walked towards the rows of single-family homes, it was suddenly as if the burnet had melted into the very darkness of the unit's backyards as she sneaked from house to house. One thing she didn't need was for the entire section of woodland cul-de-sacs to experience a horrible episode of déjà vu of the undead kind; it'd turn into mass hysteria and for sure and then she would die for real after the Integra got a hold her. _'Just a little further – there!'_ Cody mentally cried as an all too familiar home came into view. _'Right on the money, and if my inner calendar hasn't failed me this should be the night when we–__**they**__…when they get the house to themselves…'_ A painful pang in her chest told her yet again of the divider that now lay between her and the people inside.

As Cody stood in the shadow of the welcoming building, an _evil_ idea slithered past her depressing thoughts, causing her to remember a certain event that happened there not too long ago. Smirking deviously, she moved along the side of the house until she reached a small, narrow basement window that if opened led straight into the storage room; this window was made into a secret escape route four years ago by her and her friends if they wanted to sneak out to a nearby lake when having any sort of sleepover. She snickered as she knelt next to it. _'It's too perfect a chance to pass up! And besides,'_ Cody giggled devilishly while laying her hand upon the glass plane. _'It'd be the most awesome payback for that April fool's prank they pulled on me last year – fear and revere! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!! . . . Oh heaven help me if that grinning twit is rubbing off my personality, effin hell… Okay, okay – concentrate, coonncceeennttrraatteeee……'_

Inhaling slowly a couple of times, the girl close her eyes, added a minimal amount of pressure on the window she was touching-

-and slipped through light water, landing silently from a front-flip onto the stone floor of the blacked out room; not that the lack of light was much of a problem anyway.

_'__Success! Man I'm good at this; soon I won't even have to focus anymore!'_

Something that she had discovered at the beginning of her third week as a Hellsing operative, and very rudely so, was that she had finally accomplished in attaining the great vampiric trait of moving through and about solid objects and practiced it until she knew it blindfolded. How she found this out however, was not entirely by her own actions. It all started when Seras, being the _fantastic_ vampire sister that she was, scared the wits out of Cody while she was still asleep in her coffin, causing the young girl to pass through the lining, wood, and five stone floors until her Master caught her falling through his room's ceiling. And after all that, and a small prideful chat with Alucard, she spent the rest of the evening with one killer of a headache.

Now that the burnet was inside, she tiptoed with a cat-like grace over to the door and put her ear to the wood, patiently listening for the voices she so wished to hear. Then, after a few seconds, Cody smiled with joy as she heard the so called 'music' echoing throughout the space.

"…can't believe you two, 's like a broken record."

"But she poked me first!"

"That is bollocks, YOU did!"

"How about the both of you be quiet or I'll poke – you – both."

"Eek! Yes Ma'am!"

"Ahhhhh! Nonononono!!!"

"…zzzzzzzzz…"

As the comic banter continued in the next room, the fledgling muffled her oncoming laughter with her hand. _'Ahh, typical fun on the typical Saturday night a.k.a. Saturday Night Fevah! And in order from appearance in speaker is…Jo, Robin, Michelle, Liz, aaaand that'd be Elaine taking a snooze on the couch.'_ The six of them had been friends for the longest time, the furthest that any of them could remember was Montessori school; Jo being her first and best friend. In the back of her mind, she could clearly envision what their reactions would be from her whole back-from-the-dead act.

And it was going to be catastrophically funny. Well, for her anyway.

Then, out of nowhere, the chattering stopped and gave way to an uncomfortable silence before someone, identified as Robin, spoke.

"This just doesn't feel right without the Munchkin you guys." Cody gave a strained smile at the use of the thrice-damned nickname that she received halfway through her fifth grade year. It seemed that even when she was 'dead', her friends still referred to her by her old titles.

_'__Mental note: NEVER let Master get wind of said titles.'_ She mentally stated, if there was one thing she didn't need, it was the elder Nosferatu to start calling her by another name other than her own like he did to Seras.

"We know Rob," Jo replied morosely as the feeling in the basement turned into one of sadness. "That's been brought up for the past four Saturdays, but you know that she wouldn't want for us to mope around about it."

Liz sighed in turn, "Yeah…that's about right."

_'__What is this, a funeral? Sheesh…what a downer…'_ She thought, tears threatening to come forward. Shaking her head to gather her wits, Cody cracked to door open just enough to see down the small hallway, past the side room containing Liz's pool table, and into the main sitting area. _'Okay, time to make this weekly meeting more lively…the fuse box is right behind me. Shut that off and they'll immediately go for the flashlights in the cupboard beneath the telly…'_ Inching backwards from her position, the young girl gently placed her hand on the aforementioned box. _'I've got a couple of minutes or so, depending on how much they freak out, to move myself into that little space behind the couch that 'laine's sleeping on.'_ Grasping the main switch, Cody grinned of her soon-to-be victory, and pulled, fluidly merging into the wall beside her. "Game start ladies!"

The reactions were instantaneous.

The group screamed like panicked children, at least some of them anyway. Jo and Liz jumped in their seats a bit while Elaine woke with a terrified start and tumbled off the sofa.

"Wha-what's going on?!!" She squeaked panicky, her bob of blonde hair flipping wildly every which way.

"Powers out," announced Jo with a jittery laugh. "That was scary…bloody 'ell, it's as black as Newgate's knocker in here…Is everyone alright?"

With the assurances of everyone there, Liz took up her job as group leader and moved towards the cabinet the TV was sitting on top of.

"Okay guys, Code 4-F. Let's hand out the flashlights-" she started to say, but was unexpectedly interrupted when a faint yet menacing sound reached the ears of the five; a small scraping noise like that of fingernails raking across wall plaster. There were a few yelps as the group scrambled madly for one another, gathering in the center of the room, backs facing each other's while wide, frightened eyes stared out at the walls that surrounded them. With a series of snaps five identical beams of light appeared as the troop waved the flashlights against any possible offending force.

"I didn't hear that, I didn't hear that…" Elaine chanted, huddling closer to Michelle who was trembling along with her.

"W-what, what was that?!" She whispered shrilly, the other unspoken three only watched each other cautiously. Robin, taking on a somewhat thoughtful expression before giving a wide smile, spoke first.

"Maybe it's a cat trying to get it," she said contentedly, causing her friends to face-fault in exasperation.

"Like any cat in its right mind could dig through six feet of soil and three feet of concrete," Jo dryly noted. "Unless it's Lizzie's devil cat. No offense Liz but that's one freaky arse feline you have there, and I would pay good money to see that you know."

"Yes, because Princess can come through packed dirt and cement," the other girl replied sardonically, staring out at the walls around them. "No, that's not it, so quit making fun of my cat or I'll sic her on all of you the next sleepover that we have." The her four friends shivered beside themselves at the thought of waking up in the middle of the night to see a Siamese Shorthair with giant, chilling blue eyes staring down at you. "But it's not coming from outside."

A hesitant response from Michelle had them all on edge. "Not from…outside?"

"No. It more sounds like, like it's coming from…_in the room_-"

"_UUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH…_" The flashlight rays flew around the room wildly as the group scrunched closer together, screaming childishly to someone's sadistic delight.

"OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGOOOOD!!"

"MyEAR!"

"GHOOOOOOSSSTTT!!!"

"Would you all belt-UP!"

"**EEYYYAAAAAAAAGGHHH**!!!!" An ear-splitting shriek that erupted from Elaine deafened everyone who stood around her, silencing them within that very second as they gawked at her with alarmed expressions. The teen stood frozen to the spot with the exception of one shaking hand that held her flashlight in front of her, pointing it top-center of the sofa where a dark shadow stared over the back cushion.

A shadow with incredibly colorless skin and malevolent blood-red eyes peeking out from beneath long black hair that covered most of its face.

"Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z…" The teen stuttered as her friends stared at the figure in shock and fear, eyes widening to the point of the white orb consuming it completely. "Z-z-z-z-z-z-ZZZOOMMMBBIIEEE!!!" The ashen figure suddenly rose up into a standing position on the frame of the couch with arms outstretched from its black clothed body as it gasped for air, a low clicking noise emitting from its throat.

Then, as if the scene couldn't get any more terrifying for the young adults, it opened its mouth into a malicious grin containing large, glistening fangs at the corners of its lips to speak in a cruel yet light tone that held a minuscule amount of familiarity.

"I…I want…" it hissed through pointed teeth, stepping onto the seat pillow and then onto the carpeted floor as it made it's way towards the small band of teenagers. "I want…foooood…" Scanning the five girls it faced, its eyelids lowered in pleasure as it purred a most horrifying sentence. "You lot will do _nicely_…"

"Nooooo! I wanna keep my braiiin!" Wailed Robin, clutching onto Liz's arm while she and the rest of the gang backed up until their shoulder blades made contact with the TV screen when before their very eyes the ghastly figure began to move forward, stalking them like prey. Gathering her courage, Jo swore about things that no fifteen year old should ever swear about before swinging her flashlight before her like a bat.

"_Sod off shitehawk or I'll be sticking one to you!!_" She roared with as much brazen anger as she could muster along with her friends who contributed by screaming at the thing from along side her, trying desperately to ward off the offender. Then, out of nowhere, a pleased smile plastered itself over the thing's face stretched from ear to ear as it began to melt into the floor at their feet, much to their complete astonishment, and finally disappearing with a faint cackle.

It was sometime before anyone said anything when the lights above them flickered back on, giving way to a relieved atmosphere to which the group gladly appreciated. "Thank God," Michelle groaned, putting a palm to her forehead while Robin started to giggle nervously, soon turning into full-blown hysterical laughter that Jo joined a second later.

Followed by Liz.

Then Michelle.

And finally Elaine as the contagious fit caused them all to collapse onto the ground, gasping for breath. It seemed that the danger had passed as an enveloping peace spread throughout the home's bottommost floor.

Or so it seemed. As the crew picked themselves and each other off of the floor, another peculiar sound came within earshot, a very familiar sound of rapidly approaching feet on carpet. Hearing the noise, Liz and everyone else quickly turned on heel, "What now-?"

"BOOGABOOGABOOGAAAAA!!!" Merely to see what could only be described as a flailing blur of limbs and hair come flying at them through the basement space like lightning. The troupe, still in the process of recovering over their last heart attack, did the only thing that they could do in that kind of situation.

They screamed. Again. It was a wondrous feat of how the neighbors hadn't heard them by then.

"_AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!_" It continued on like that for a few minutes before they had realized that whatever had intended to come at them had stopped and was now laughing at them from only a few feet away; a laugh that was something that neither of them had heard ever since that fateful day four weeks ago. Slowly lifting their heads, they stared with complete and utter disbelief at the person in front of them.

A young girl with brown hair that came to their shoulders and eyes to which they knew were of the same color, wearing a dark maroon t-shirt with the logo 'Aerosmith' across the front in brick red and faded black jeans.

Mouths dropped like ten-ton weights as Liz inched doubtfully towards the figure, blinking several times just to make sure that she wasn't dreaming. "Co…Cody?"

"In the flesh!" She smiled coyly at her dumbfounded friends. _'Ha-ha! Mission accomplished!'_

"B-but, but you're dead!" Elaine stuttered.

"I'm not dead…yet, and you're only half right," the burnet smirked, enjoying the confused faces that her friend's were making. "It's because I'm only half dead." Beaming proudly Cody allowed he lips to part, revealing her now, toothy additions to the ones in front of her. "Vampire." She mentally laughed as the action caused severe eye widening among the group. _'And now, time to break the spell.'_ "Oh, and by the way," the teen paused, taking in the contemplative looks sent her way. "You guys are WAY too easy to scare." She spread her arms out parallel to her body in a sort of 'Ta-da!' presentation, grinning gleefully.

"_April fools_! …well, a couple of days late but still-"

"THAT WAS _YOU_?!" Jo cried furiously, her face growing redder by the minute as she marched towards the fledgling, grabbing her by the collar and hauling her to face-level. "You nearly scared us to death, _for an April fool's prank_?!"

"You bet." Cody replied without a moment's hesitation, poking her friend in the nose. "Consider it payback for last year, because that was just so not funny." She spoke of the joke that was played on her the last April she spent with her pals that involved some pink dye, one of the wild turkeys that lived in the area, and molasses; said pals were never forgiven.

Up until now of course.

One by one, the five young women came out of their initial shock of seeing one of their own come back from the dead, Jo landing a few blows to the head of the short immortal, the light mood from before returned, accompanied by laughter and overjoyed sobbing. All the while, Cody kept on smiling falsely as questions were thrown at her, among those being "Where the hell were you?", "Why didn't you call?", "How'd you do that melting-thingy?", "There's no way that you're a real vampire – _no way_.", although that was more of a statement just begging to be proven,and the most extremely odd "So, what's it like being a stiff?". The one question that caused her faked expression to falter was one from the leader of the group, Liz.

"So, Munchkin," Cody pouted at the nickname with her friend's chuckling around her. "Why'd you come back?" There was a small gasp from the girl before an uncomfortable silence appeared as a sad smile slipped over her face.

"Heheh, er…to tell you the truth, my boss told me before I left not to get any more people involved, but this was just something that I needed to do…" she trailed off, rubbing the back of her head. Puzzled, Robin spoke up softly.

"What do you mean?" The burnet sighed again, lowering her gaze to the floor.

"Look I can't tell you much, but you guys remember that incident that happened at my house a couple of days before I 'died', right?" Group nod. "Well, the people that saved us, saved me, along with two other vampires, are all part of this…er, police force that hunts down the supernatural all around the UK that are killing humans, like renegade vampires and ghouls."

"Whoa-wait." Elaine stuttered. "Are telling us that you work for the fuzz?"

"Uh-huh."

"And you go around killing people, your own kind?"

"Better them than you, right?" The girl replied. "I guess that in a nutshell, that's the reason why my family died, is because we got involved…" After a few seconds a flurry of questions flew at her, causing the girl to quickly summarize what had happened from the first attack, to the letter, the ball, and finally the last time she was alive.

But the silence still continued to settle until Liz spoke again.

"Cody…you still didn't answer my question."

"Yeah…yeah, I know." Cody stated sadly. _'That's because I really don't want to answer it…'_ She looked upon her friends with a completely still visage.

To Liz; the kind, hazel-eyed sixteen year old who's strawberry-blonde hair was drawn back into a high bun. The girl, their leader, who took care of them all whenever there was a family spat or any other problem.

To Robin; the innocent, fun loving fifteen year old who's clever brown eyes and dyed bright red hair that went a little past her shoulders brazenly proclaimed an exciting personality. Naïve at times, but was still loved like a sister.

To Elaine; the green-eyed sixteen year old with short, dirty blonde hair that flipped up at the base of her ears. One who was always concerned for others far before she was ever concerned about herself.

To Michelle; the curly blonde, pony-tailed sixteen year old, theatre lover. One of the first people that Cody met in Middle school and one of her long time acting friends and a great older sister.

To Jo; the fifteen year old, tomboyish, long-haired burnet that was pulled back into a ponytail. With light brown eyes that burned with a determined, one of a kind personality of the best friend that she had known since preschool.

It was hard just to keep a straight face.

_'__Oh this sucks, sucks so hard. Sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks.'_ She sighed, running a hand through her hair stressfully. When she had first arrived, she was fully ready to go through with what she intended to. Now, a sliver of doubt had snaked its way into her conscious and had turned into a mental struggle of wanting to keep her friends and wanting to keep her new self. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was too far gone to go and turn back now. "I came back…because I have to say goodbye."

"Har har, veeerrry funny." Elaine said sarcastically. "Still continuing with your joke huh? Well guess what, I'm not falling for it-" she stopped mid-sentence as she felt a hand touch her shoulder gently. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Robin looking at her sadly, "What?"

"I…I don't think she's joking this time 'laine," the young girl said quietly.

"Of course she is! Cody would never say something that cruel!"

"But Elaine's right, isn't she Cody?" Michelle asked frantically. "I mean, you _are_ joking, right?" Minutes passed before the young girl spoke again.

"No, I'm not." Cody snapped bluntly, "I came back to say goodbye, and to give you guys some closure." Her retort was met with angry and confused protests that filled the room a second later, causing the newest vampire to grind her teeth in wretchedness, blood red tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. "Don't make this more difficult than it already is for me!!" She shouted, her brown orbs flashing the color of her tears, startling the group back into silence for a moment.

"Hey Munchkin…you're-ah…crying blood," Liz pointed out softly. Touching her cheek, the burnet pulled her hand away to reveal crimson colored digits.

_'__I didn't even notice…'_ "Vampires cry blood, at least that's what I'm told anyway…it's never really happened to me before…" she trailed off as Jo came forward, her face set into a defiant expression. _'Oh great…here it comes.'_

"Exactly _why_ do you have to say goodbye, hm?" The pony-tailed girl growled. "Is it because you want to protect us, or that you feel responsible that you couldn't protect your family?"

Cody winced at the harsh tone that Jo took with her, something that was never done before. "Both." She answered stiffly. "I wasn't able to keep them safe that time, and I refuse to take that risk with you." Rubbing her arm uneasily, she took a passing glimpse at the five's disbelieving appearances. "Hell, my boss doesn't even know I'm here, or my Master for that matter. I'm putting my neck on the line here just to see you all." There was an uncertain pause before Robin came forward.

"So…so what now? Are you just going to leave and then we'll never see you again? Is that it?" She asked a little put off, to which Cody only shrugged indifferently, struggling to keep herself from breaking down from she was going to say next.

"Most likely," she exhaled impassively. "I'm sorry, I really am, but I want to keep you safe. That, and…and I don't think I'm going to be able to continue with my unlife…if I'm being held back by you gu-" The young girl never got to finish her sentence. Two seconds later, she sat on the carpet holding a rapidly healing bloody nose and lip as she stared up at her seething best friend. _'Holy SHIT that hurt…did hurt…whatever!'_

"_US_ holding _YOU_ back?!" Jo screamed. "Don't you say that, don't you _dare_ say that! If you value our safety that much, our _friendship_ that much, then don't you ever say that again!" Stunned, the fledgling opened her mouth to defend herself, but it was left hanging when her senior sent her a glare that could rival that of the Hellsing master. Pointing at her from where she stood, Jo's mouth quickly formed into a hard smirk. "You told us this once, and now I'm going to tell you," she paused, looking deeply into Cody's eyes, her own stare completely steadfast. "We will forever be your best of friends, comrades in arms, sisters to the cause, or whatever else you'd like to call it whether you bloody well _like it or not_." The long-haired burnet said with definiteness, crossing her arms over her chest with Liz, Robin, Michelle, and Elaine taking some similar form of the stance beside her.

"B-but-!" Cody stuttered, "You-stupid-! Don't you realize that I'm going to live longer than any of you?! I'll look twenty when you all are pushing up daisies!"

"Does it look like any of us care about that?" Liz said with a firm character, "We'll always think of you as one of our bonnie friends until the day we die, and then some." The young vampire winced as the strawberry-blonde gave her one of her patented Leader Stare-downs, everyone else in the basement room soon following her example as they did with Jo before.

_'__Augh, angry group stare…jeez, those thick-headed eejits, I'm never going to get through to them am I? They probably know how painful this is for me, to never be able to get over the hill with them, but they won't say it; they're just going to keep on assuring me that they'll stay with me as long as it is possible for them…great, just great.'_ She groaned, hanging her head in her hands at the severity of the situation. Meanwhile, as she muttered incoherently into her palms, she failed to notice a familiar presence slowly creep up on the suburban home until Robin, one of the more spiritually sensitive of the group, softly commented about an 'odd chill' that was surrounding the room. At that phrase, Cody's head snapped up, eyes frantically searching the walls around her for the cause. _'What – are – you – doing – here?!!'_ As to be expected, a dark foreboding chuckle resounded back within the confines of her mind.

**_'_**_**Moi? My dearest little fledgling, I should be the one asking you that question.'**_ The Nosferatu answered cockily. _**'I recall Sir Hellsing specifically told you not to involve anymore bystanders in our business, am I right?'**_

_'__I know, I know dammit! Maybe if you had gotten here a few seconds sooner, you'd know that I'm trying to get them to let me go as a friend!'_ Cody mentally hissed. _'They're too damn stubborn!'_

**_'_**_**Just like you I see, it certainly seems that you have a knack for befriending people that you share a likeness in attitude with. Well…'**_ Alucard commented nonchalantly with a telepathic smirk. _**'It looks like you're going to be stuck with them then.**_

_'_… … _#$ …'_ As her Master laughed at her from another, darker plane, she got down to considering what had really taken place, and what was still taking place. She had scared her friends shitless, revealed that she wasn't dead and that she was a vampire; not only did they not reject her as the monster she knew she was but when she told them to get out of her new life forever because they made her weak, they told her to stick it in her ear…in so few words.

She grinned, laughing to herself, unaware that the girls around her were giving her even weirder looks than before. It really did seem as if Cody would have to be stuck with them for just a while longer…what _would_ the illustrious Sir Integra Hellsing think? _'She'll have my head, that's what…'_

**_'_**_**I doubt it; maybe shoot at you a few times or banning you to your dungeon room, but be lucky that's all you'll get in punishment for disobeying her orders.'**_ Replied the midian from his spot. _**'You are a great contribution to the Organization by helping the Police Girl grow stronger, if you haven't noticed.'**_

_'__Yeah, I've noticed, I'm not stupid you know – and could it kill you to call her by her actual name-?!'_ Before she could continue, an interruption from her Master caught her mid-sentence.

**_'_**_**This will be our secret. Tell the Angel or the Police Girl if you wish, but I strongly advise against letting Integra know for a while.'**_ Shocked, Cody stood still, running her Master's advice through her head a few times before eh spoke again. _**'In the meantime though, I suggest you answer your colleagues; they're getting quite impatient with you.'**_

_'__…thank you…'_ Was her stunned answer as she felt Alucard's presence leave the house, but not before he left one last message with his newest fledgling; only three words that would completely ruin the moment that was created.

**_'_**_**You'll owe me for this 'Munchkin'.'**_

_'__YOU ASSHAT – JUST WAIT 'TILL I GET HOME, YOU'RE GOING TO SO REGRET THAT LAST FRICKING COMMENT!!'_ She screamed in between the peals of maniacal laughter that drifted away into the endless void, a familiar voice at her ear pulling her back into reality.

"-dy, Cooooooooody! Wake up! What are you a zombie now or something?"

_'__Ah, Michelle.'_ "_No_. Vampire, stupid," the mentioned teen whined. "And we call them _ghouls_ for your information. They're what happens when a vampire sucks the blood dry from a non-virgin or someone of the same sex, and _I_ am not one of those things, okay 'El?"

"Yeah, yeah; whatever."

"So, McShorty," queried Jo, smirking ever so slightly. "What say you?" The tense air between the two groups grew as they stared the other down, all the while, Cody still maintaining her still, careless expression. After a few minutes of reviewing over what she had thought while talking to the elder Nosferatu however, it was conquered by a chuckle as Cody moved her hands behind her hand, smiling giddily at the ones in front of her.

"I say…I give, okay? I give. Hell, even I know when I'm beat." She proclaimed, "God, you guys are THE biggest pain."

"You bet, and that isn't ever going to change." Liz said happily while loud, joyous cheers filled in the previous white noise.

Not long after the heart lifting news was relayed, the celebration was on, and started by a humongous dog-pile on the young vampire and a wrestling match, which Cody conquered with inhuman ease; followed by a four week follow-up and tales from the Hellsing Estate, with certain facts as to where concealed. The rest of the night wasn't anything short of being the most memorable night in Saturday Night Fever history, and was recorded as such. By the time anyone had realized it, four hours had passed and Cody had to leave them again after she received the anticipated call from her butler friend who was twenty minutes away. Once she had given her fond farewells, and received the expected death threats of 'If you don't come back and visit, we'll hunt you down ourselves!', she left the house, sinking back into the darkness as she high-tailed it back to her own home through the woods. But instead of waiting patiently on the stoop for her ride, she made the choice to make one last stop.

About five minutes before the car arrived, Cody took one last round through the deserted building, reminiscing with precious memories as she walked through the blood spattered floors; through the kitchen, the living room, up the stairs, to her parents room, and finally to where she had shared a sleeping quarters with her bother and sister. _'I'll be damned; it really is a haunted house.'_ The teen joked cryptically, staring out her window for the last time. _'Mum, Dad, Paige, Ian…what are you doing right now?'_ She sighed weakly, walking out of the room and back down the hallway. _'Bet I look pretty stupid, huh? I'm sorry about that, really I am. I know fully well that I should be up there with you, but I-I couldn't, not just yet. Yeah, yeah Dad, go ahead and call me stubborn; not like it'll matter anyway…I miss you guys though and I really hope that you're rooting for me on this-'_

Her head snapped up at the sudden sound of a beeping horn that came through the broken screen door she was standing stationary in front of, watching as the white car came to a stop parallel to the lawn while she walked out to it. "Miss Brooks?" Walter's voice called out as the graying man stepped out of the vehicle. "Are you ready to go?"

"Mmm-hm," was her noncommittal answer. As she glanced back to her home for the final goodbye, Cody could not help but feel a sensation of uplifting relief deep within her soul; the tightness that she had felt within for the past few weeks or so ultimately disappearing. Smiling genuinely, she turned back to the vehicle, got in, and closed the door soundly. "Let's motor."

"Most certainly, Miss Brooks." The butler chuckled, turning out of the gravel road and onto the pavement while Cody, still smiling, gave her family a concluding thought as she left her dark past behind her forever.

_'__Just wait for me!'_

* * *

Kazumi: Whew! Done and done, for real! SO FRICKING HAPPY!!!!! I had to add that Newgate's knocker phrase, it was just too funny not to. Next fic that's goin' up is my _'Slayers'_ one, and I already have it done too . Please review, if it took me this long to post, then at least encourage me a little since I'm having some trouble writing out the plot for this story. I hoped that you liked this really long chapter, ja ne minna-san! 


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